Cardinal Peter K A Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Rome, (who is now at the Paris Climate talks) gave the Pope Paul VI CAFOD Memorial Lecture, on Friday, 4 December, entitled: 'Care for all Creation: a door to our common home.'
God gave the “most beautiful thing He had”, the world, to a family, to a man and a woman so that they would grow, multiply and make the land fruitful. Francis also remarked that He wanted His only Son to grow up within a family home, and emphasised that the family enjoys “divine citizenship”. While there are problems in every home, they can be overcome with love,..
Pope Francis is not the first pope to address environmental issues but he is the first to devote an encyclical to them. Tackling climate change is not only an issue of justice and human survival, but an act of faith in God’s creation of the world. Laudato Si is the most eagerly awaited papal encyclical for decades.
After two months of living with local families Dewanto, student at the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, has come to appreciate the unique site.“We came here to feel how to live in the middle of ancestral forests and to get to know the local people that have protected the forests for years,” said the 23-year-old. The villagers have banked on eco-tourism, hoping that by attracting students, locals and foreigners alike, they can convince the world of the importance of protecting their land.
